Forge your own path

Somebody asked me recently why I love being a physiotherapist. I came to realise that one of the (many) reasons is the diversity and range of opportunities that physiotherapy offers to make a difference to people’s lives. 

There is no one pathway in physiotherapy and whether it is providing rehabilitation, leading a service, promoting health, researching new insights or supporting students to grow and flourish, we as physiotherapists get to make a difference. 

This edition showcases many parts of our skilled and valuable workforce. Whether it is as a support worker assessing apprentices, students’ achievements on the CSP Student Reference Group or as a physiotherapist playing a crucial part in major surgery, careers in physiotherapy offer more opportunities than ever. And we need a strong and diverse workforce, where everyone can belong, to deliver this range of practice. 

As our populations age but live longer, often with multiple health needs, people need us more than ever. 

We therefore must commit to continuing to developing a workforce and creating opportunities across all sectors, so everyone can reach their potential and deliver the impact and the care people need. Dr Vincent Singh shows us how commitment to continuing to learn and develop reaps rewards. And the increasing number of capability and education frameworks now available provides a structure to do this. Developing integrated skills across clinical, research, leadership and education at all levels will allow us to reach our potential. 

As we emerge from the pandemic we must take all the learning and opportunities we have been afforded to continue to grow and develop as a profession. 

As a profession we can offer many solutions to the challenges within health and social care. It is not easy sometimes to see those opportunities when we are jaded, but reflecting on and measuring our impact makes it worth it. 

Considering your own development goals and aspirations is an important process, taking time to reflect on where you’ve been and where you are going can help you get the most from your career. 

Reach out to others to find mentors, networks, support, and nurture and give to colleagues too. You never know where these paths might lead.